SHIMLA: The Himachal Bhartiya Janata Party leaders on Friday demanded an immediate resignation from the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh whom they said is a “master manager” and could influence the investigations by misusing his position. Leader of opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal who was in Jawalmukhi said that Mr. Virbhadra Singh who himself talks of morality sometimes should resign now on moral grounds and join the investigations with CBI. He said the extraordinary rise in Mr. Singh’s incomes when he was the Union Minister and refilling of his income tax returns gives a clear indication of money laundering and corruption in the deals.
State BJP General Secretary and senior MLA Randhir Sharma in a press conference here said that Chief Minister who has alleged that the CBI has been saffronised since some officers have been inducted from Gujarat is a “master manager”. While questioning that how does he know the antecedents of CBI officers, the BJP leader alleged that Chief Minister spends his majority times in Delhi visiting the CBI and other investigating agencies? Mr. Singh has also insulted the premier investigating and constitutional organisation of the country by making derogatory remarks, said the BJP. Alleging the convinced use of immoral influence the BJP secretary said he should immediately resign like he had to do when he was the Union Minister. “After he received the kickback of Rs 2.28 crore from a multinational his portfolio was changed and finally he had to resign in the UPA II government”, he said.
The BJP again gave the entire details of Mr. Singh’s modus operandi of selling fake apples on scooters and cars and filing revised IT returns after three years from a few lakhs to several crores. The party again questioned his buying of sprawling farm house in Mehrauli near Delhi and his getting unsecured loans from a conduit company that was otherwise bankrupt and the acquisition of millions of shares by his wife, son and daughter. The husband-wife duo had never mentioned any details of such shares or income from them in any of their election affidavits. Chief Minister’s wife Pratibha Singh was the Loksabha MP from Mandi.
The BJP has also alleged that Chief Minister who remains more in Delhi than in the hill State has ignored the interests of farmers and the general public. The farmers are who are suffering from inclement weather and forcible evacuation from their apple orchards after a High Court order, the general public that is suffering because of total lawlessness and dismantling of PDS system here and the exploitation of people by the mining, education and land mafias have piled up in past few years because of no interest shown by the Chief Minister in the affairs of the State. Mr. Singh talks of a review petition in the High Court after thousands of apple trees of small and marginal peasants have been axed shows his total apathy towards the common people here, said the BJP.
Meanwhile the State Congress party and a group of ministers on Friday issued a statement in favour of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and said these are all old allegations and an attempt by the BJP to destabilise the State government.
On the other hand Chief Minister who had come from Delhi a few days back has again left for Delhi today. The Congress says he has gone to rectify his dental trouble, the BJP says he has been summoned by the high command and has gone to “manage the crises” again.
KY Singh is a political observer and a senior journalist with an interest in a diverse set of issues related to Himachal Pradesh and other mountain states. He lives in Shimla.
